Terry Kay's 'Valley of Light' on CBS tonight

Posted: Sunday, January 28, 2007

Returning from service in World War II, Noah Locke is a young man who's carrying grief. Members of his platoon were killed on the battlefield and he blames himself. He saw the death camps at Dachau. His parents died and his brother is in prison. Even the family farm has been sold.

Can he find a place, and peace, in the world? That's the story of "The Valley of Light," a new "Hallmark Hall of Fame" presentation airing at 9 tonight on CBS.

At loose ends, Noah roams the back roads of the South in search of himself.

"I'm guess I'm wandering," he tells a stranger, "looking for a sign that tells me to stop."

But then he is led to a mystical town filled with folks who seem willing to receive him - in particular, Eleanor, a young widow and, like Noah, a lonely soul.

Based on the novel by Athens' own Terry Kay, "The Valley of Light" stars Chris Klein ("Election," "American Dreamz") and Gretchen Mol ("Calm at Sunset," "The Notorious Bettie Page"), and features Robert Prosky, Zach Mills, Jeff Perry and Jay O. Sanders.

Other shows this week to look out for:

 See what filmdom's actors think of themselves when "The 13th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards" are presented in a live simulcast on TNT and TBS, airing at 8 tonight from Los Angeles. Awards will honor outstanding performances from 2006 in five film categories and eight TV categories, including the "distinctive ensemble" awards, which salute the collaborative performance by a cast in a motion picture and by the ensemble casts of both comedy and dramatic TV series. In addition, a life achievement award will be presented to Julie Andrews. The film and TV nominees were chosen by two groups of 2,100 people randomly chosen from the guild's 120,000 members; the guild's full membership was eligible to vote for winners.

 Behind the picket fences of suburbia lurks more than one deadly secret, and "Suburban Secrets" aims to expose a whole community of them. This 15-episode documentary series chronicles true tales of crimes committed by devoted mothers, community leaders and hardworking neighbors who leave their corner of the world rocked by scandal. On the premiere, airing 10 p.m. Monday on Court TV, a vicious murder puts a neighborhood on edge in the sleepy town of Conway, S.C., when 17-year-old Crystal Todd turns up dead after a night out with friends. A second half-hour episode at 10:30 p.m. tells of two men who break into the home of a young married couple in the middle of the night. The husband is murdered, but before attacking his wife the assailants demand that she give them the keys to the bank where he worked ... or so she claims.

 On the Supreme Court, nine judges appointed for life make decisions that govern every American's life. With immense power and considerable mystery, the court of final appeal has helped write history. But even though it's one of the pillars of American democracy, its inner workings are seldom laid bare for an inquiring TV camera. PBS' four-hour "The Supreme Court" fuses history with biography to humanize the enigmatic black-robed figures. Airing 9 p.m. Wednesday, Part 1 examines the creation of the court and follows it to the brink of the Civil War. Then Part 2 focuses on the issues before the court during the postwar era of unprecedented economic growth, when industrialists like Carnegie and Rockefeller were earning millions. On Feb. 7, the concluding two hours follow the court up through the civil rights era and measure the towering influence of the court under Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

 It's a challenge even Mean Joe Greene might find daunting: 15 of the greatest Super Bowl commercials are going up against his classic 1980 Coca-Cola ad, the reigning champion for the past five years. The outcome will be announced on "Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials 2007," airing 9 p.m. Friday on CBS. Can any commercial beat the one that featured Greene, the imposing Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle, softening his gruff exterior when a youngster offered him a cold bottle of Coke after a tough day on the gridiron? The winner will be chosen by online voting at CBS.com, where displays the top 15 contenders (including "Cat Herders," "1984" and "Cedric's Date"). The special, which will originate from Dolphins Stadium in Miami, site of Super Bowl XLI, is hosted by Daisy Fuentes and Jim Nantz.